Bamberg, Day 2

Today was our 2.6 mile walking tour of Bamberg, Bavaria, 

a UNESCO Historical Site with a well-preserved medieval city center that escaped bombing in WWII. 

The highlight was Cathedral Hill. 

 From top left, Cathedral, Old Court, New Residence with rose garden, and old town Bamberg.

The Cathedral was originally built between 1002 and 1012 

 Side view

but it and its successor both burnt to the ground. 

The third one had a metal roof and has survived since the 13th century. (Here) 

 The Old Court Annex, originally housing but now used for storage.

The compound also has 

the Old Court (11th century) 

and the New Residence,

built 1697-1703.

Little Venice, built originally as homes for river fishermen

 Overlooking Little Venice

 Castle on the hill (we didn’t go there)

 New Residence rose garden

 Overlooking old town from the rose garden

 500 year old roofs tend to sag…

 Green building is a centuries-old pub known for its ‘smoky beer’. Our guide said it tasted like ‘licking a dirty ashtray’. 😳 I’ll pass…

 Above the pub doorway. Star at the end is Tudor-era symbol for Publican’s Guild.

 Statue of Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, and later Saint, Cunigunde (c 975-1040). Fascinating story here. 

 Town Hall. See the poles in the water? It’s a slalom practice course for kayakers.

 Back side of Town Hall.

 Pretty church. See the woman in front? She’s in 90% of my photos. I’d go to take a pic and she’d appear out of nowhere. 😒😜

 Statue in front of the pretty church

 More pretty church art. 

River Cruise, Day 1

We were signed up to do a walking tour of Nuremberg this morning, but it was cold (39°), pea-soup foggy and way too early, 

so we decided to take a day off instead. The past few months have been a bit much. 

I think we were 2 of only 3 passengers remaining on board when the boat headed down the river for… training? fuel? just because?

It was peaceful and quiet in the lounge, just like we wanted. 

We also got a surprise with dinner. 

It looked like the boat was going to hit a cement wall until we realized we were entering a lock. 

We had a ringside seat as the boat sank lower and lower… until the wall that started out below our window now towered 2 stories above us. So very coo

We’re in Bamburg tomorrow (medieval cathedral! UNESCO World Heritage site!) until noon, 

so we may see more locks during the day. 

Can’t wait!

View from our balcony looking to the right

Traveling

Our Tuesday-Wednesday travel day was long,

22 hours total from locking our front door 

to stepping foot on the Viking Skirnir in Nuremberg, Germany. 

We flew the polar route from LAX to Amsterdam via KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - 

nice lay-flat seats, great flight attendants - 

then a rickety puddle-jumper, with the old-fashioned push-up to the cockpit stairway, for the one hour flight to Nuremberg. 

Turns out LAX and AMS are big airports. 

We walked 2.4 miles Tuesday at LAX 

 Little snack in the Air France lounge

and 2.6 miles Wednesday at AMS and while finding our bus in Nuremberg. (That was a not-fun hike, dragging suitcases up and over cobblestone curbs. 10/10 would not recommend.)

We had a safety briefing and dinner on board the Skirner,

Heated bathroom floors! I’m never leaving.

then collapsed into bed. 

Looking forward to seeing the sights for the next 10 days!

Almost Time

We’re leaving on vacation in about 30 hours.

Am I packed? Nope.* (Shocking, I know.)

Did I spend all evening making a shoulder pad for my purse? Sure did!**

Priorities!

* Pop has been packed since Friday night. 

** Sewing project was going pretty well until I got to the binding. Put in a heavy-duty denim needle after I broke 2 regular ones sewing through 10+ layers. At 2 am decided finished was much better than perfect so please don’t look too closely at the binding. It’s functional!

What a Day

We probably should have spread some of this to another day, but it’s supposed to rain tomorrow and Thursday, and we’re leaving on vacation next Tuesday, so the timing was getting tight.

Painters will be done tomorrow, a day ahead of their estimate. 

Very pleased with the work they’ve done - and recommended them to the poor guy across the street who now has water running down his walls. What is it with this neighborhood?? 

A tile guy is coming tomorrow to give a quote on redoing the master bedroom floor. Not going with wood again - we’ve learned that lesson!

The last things we need (I think) to give the insurance company are quotes for the floor tile and master closet interior. Somebody had the bright idea (slight sarcasm) of stopping at Ikea to look at their closet systems on our way to Pasadena. Got some good ideas but also walked a mile and a half trying to find the exit! Cyrus and I were tired before we even got to the main event…

We saw Carved at Descanso Gardens again! 

Wanted to take Cyrus before we left for Europe 

and tonight seemed the best fit.

I don’t think it was as well done as last year but it was still well worth going. 

I especially liked the ghost people. 

So spooky and clever. 

Arriving late and having to park waaay down the street 

added to our step count - 

just shy of another mile and a half. 

As a reward for putting up with us, we took Cyrus to Rolling Pin Donuts, a local must-see. 

The donuts may not be the best but they sure are big! And they’re open all night so you can watch them rolling and frying before picking your favs. 

This only measures planned walks, where I take my phone along.